The “Candid” in “Candidate”
Yes, candid and candidate are cognate. It’s ironic, of course, that a word referring to forthrightness and honesty is the basis of a noun referring to someone who stands for political office.
Candid is from the Latin term candidum, which means not only “sincere” and “upright” but also “white” and “pure.” Candidatus, the Latin predecessor of candidate, means “white robed,” and alludes to the fact that those campaigning for public office in ancient Rome wore white.
Candid also means “blunt” or “frank” but also came, by extension, to mean “spontaneous,” as in referring to someone photographed in a candid pose rather than a prepared one. Meanwhile, candidate now can also refer to an applicant for any position, whether in a political context or otherwise, or to someone vying for an award or one who meets, or is on track to meet, all the requirements for something.
Synonyms for candidate include applicant, referring to someone who applies or asks for something, from the Latin verb applicare, meaning “fold to.” (The second syllable of apply is has the same as the word ply.) Another is aspirant, meaning “someone who tries to be or do something,” derived from the Latin verb aspirare, meaning “breathe on.”
Campaigner, which refers to someone who embarks on a political campaign to seek office, derives ultimately from the Latin term campania, meaning “level ground” and referring to the type of terrain most easily traversed by an army on the march; campaign originally referred to a series of battles waged to produce a desired strategic outcome. Contender, meanwhile, refers to someone who tries to win something, especially someone with a strong possibility of victory; the root word, contend, stems from the Latin verb contendere, meaning “stretch with” in the sense of a competitor who physically strives to win.
Nominee, from the Latin verb nominare, meaning “name,” pertains to someone who has been chosen to represent a political party for a specific office or someone who is being considered for a position. Prospect denotes someone likely to win or be chosen; the word, from the Latin verb prospicere, meaning “look forward,” also refers in general to anticipation or possibility, or to a lookout or a scene or a survey.
Yes, there is a relationship between 'candid' and 'candidate'.
ReplyDeleteBoth 'candid' and 'candidate' derive from the Latin word 'candidus', which means white, pure or sincere.
To be more exact, 'candidate' is from 'candidatus', which comes from 'candidus'. The relationship between candidatus and candidus is that office seekers in ancient Rome often wore white gowns.
UNITY
ReplyDeleteIndividually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean!
This is not a political rant. This is not an argument for or against your politics. I have my political positions and I vote my conscience. I don't apologize for that and I don't ask you to apologize for yours if they differ from mine. But it stops there. We must agree on one thing if there is anything left of our nation that can be united. We must agree that every human being has the right to liberty, equal justice under the law, and the pursuit of their own happiness as long as it doesn't infringe on others.
When we limit those American promises to those who fit a certain mold, we've lost our way.
I'll concede that I can't predict the future. I'll also admit that neither side has all the solutions to the complex problems we face as a divided nation -- a nation of 345 million in a world of 7.3 billion. So, we can argue about which government program will be better, which international agreement we should honor or what is the fairest tax system. But we cannot argue about basic human rights -- the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. When we marginalize any segment of our society, we compromise everyone. Each one of us has some attribute that could eventually be considered "not American enough." When any government consolidates power, and decides which of those attributes is not acceptable, it is a short step to fascism. When that government operates with the financial backing of corporate power and money, that short step has been taken and we've arrived.